Brian Shouse was released by the Red Sox today - I would pick him up, hes getting up there in age (41) but the guy has eaten up lefties over the past 3 seasons, and the Mets could really use a 2nd LOOGY. With the way the bullpen is shaping up though, it would require optioning both Sean Green and Bobby Parnell to AAA, which wouldn't be a bad thing.

- Escobar on DL.
- Green and Parnell in AAA; Calero typically runs into injury issues, so its likely you would recall 1 of these guys eventually.
- Mejia in AA, pitching as a starter.

Unfortunately, I don't think that's going to happen; Mejia seems like a strong candidate to make the bullpen, and the Mets will probably find a way to squeeze at least 1 of Green or Parnell in there too while touting Takahashi as a "dependable 2nd lefty" even though hes not really a LOOGY-type, but more like a Darren Oliver-type.

Edited by nmigliore, 26 March 2010 - 05:11 PM.

0

LETS GO METSLETS GO DEVILS

"Take all that clubhouse [expletive] and all that, throw it out the window. Every writer in the country has been writing about that [expletive] for years. Chemistry don't mean [expletive]."

Yankee director of player development, I believe, was on WFAN and said he doesn't believe developing future starters with MLB relief time early in their career makes a big difference to their future eihter way, at least not negatively, citing that there is a long history of success' using that formula.

0

Your unconditional rejection of violence makes you smugly think of yourselves as noble, as enlightened, but in reality it is nothing less than abject moral capitulation to evil. Unconditional rejection of self-defense, because you think its a supposed surrender to violence, leaves you no resort but begging for mercy or offering appeasement.

-Terry Goodkind

Sex Panther cologne -- 50 percent of the time, it works every time.

-Anchorman

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

Chris Coste was put on waivers and claimed by the Nationals (heh, so much for Coste being a mentor to Thole), so finally a catcher is dumped and the overall catching picture looks clear:

Mets: Barajas, Blanco
Bisons (AAA): Thole, Santos

Another thing - I really hope Jerry isn't serious about some of his recent bullpen talk, like Feliciano as the setup man and Raul Valdes, a guy whose been out of pro baseball for 2 years and has never reached the big leagues, as the lefty specialist. If the Mets were THAT desperate in search of an extra LOOGY they'd be better off picking up Brian Shouse for next to nothing, at least hes a proven LOOGY. But Pedro as the setup man is whole other issue - its just a silly idea since Pedro isn't any good against righties. I could live with Pedro coming in and pitching against a lefty-righty-lefty part of the lineup in the 8th, but who are we going to call on to get [insert tough lefty here] out in the 6th or 7th inning in a big spot? Raul Valdes?

Jerry also mentioned how one of the final bullpen spots could come down to Calero vs Mejia - lol. Putting my Mejia-to-bullpen hatred aside, blocking Calero out of a bullpen spot would be insanity, hes probably the 2nd best reliever on this team behind K-Rod. If his arm isn't ready to go then that's a whole different issue, but I don't see why he wouldn't be ready.

But again, this is Jerry talk, so it could be his typical drivel.

Edited by nmigliore, 30 March 2010 - 10:28 AM.

0

LETS GO METSLETS GO DEVILS

"Take all that clubhouse [expletive] and all that, throw it out the window. Every writer in the country has been writing about that [expletive] for years. Chemistry don't mean [expletive]."

So since Opening Day is right around the corner, any predictions? Last year I had them at 84 wins...this year I have them at 80. I think they'll hit a little but this starting pitching is looking shaky. Kind of hard to get excited when four of your five SPs are Pelfrey, Maine, Perez, and Niese. For the Mets to contend at all, Santana's going to have to have a monster year

0

THE NHL MUST LOVE THE DEVILS - from who else? A RANGER fan![Mark Messier]: A big, bald attention whore with a stupid Easter Island-lookin face. - from who else? DaneykoIsGod!

Even when Marty comes back maybe Larry should put Clemmensen to be on the goal during the shootouts.Can the coach do that ? Switch the goalies 5 seconds to go in overtime? - Most priceless quote ever posted on a message board.

Martin Brodeur: THE MOST ALL-TIME WINS!, 12 straight seasons of 30+ wins, 3 Stanley Cups, 4 Vezina Trophies, and zero respect from too many so-called Devils "fans" who are either too young or too bandwagon to remember the much darker days of Sean Burke, Craig Billington, Bob Sauve, Alain Chevrier, and the talented but overwhelmed Chico Resch, among many others.

It's easy to support a great player when he's playing at his very best. It takes a true fan to support that same player during those rare moments and stretches when he's not. Babe Ruth went 0-4 some games, and sometimes Wayne Gretzky was held pointless. There may be such a thing as greatness, but no such thing as absolute perfection every single night.

#30 FOREVER!

20 out of 1,946 njdevs.com members agree: CR1976 is the Most Knowledgable Poster of 2008! Victory is mine...oh yes, victory is mine!

So since Opening Day is right around the corner, any predictions? Last year I had them at 84 wins...this year I have them at 80. I think they'll hit a little but this starting pitching is looking shaky. Kind of hard to get excited when four of your five SPs are Pelfrey, Maine, Perez, and Niese. For the Mets to contend at all, Santana's going to have to have a monster year

I'll say ~82 wins. If things goes right, then perhaps ~88 wins. Either way, getting into the post-season is going to be pretty difficult with Atlanta and Philadelphia looking like teams that will finish ahead of us (Atlanta was so stupid to deal Vazquez, I hope it ends up biting them in the ass). But according to this projection chart, even 82 wins is probably being optimistic:

I'll say ~82 wins. If things goes right, then perhaps ~88 wins. Either way, getting into the post-season is going to be pretty difficult with Atlanta and Philadelphia ahead of us. And according to this projection chart, even 82 wins is probably being optimistic:

Looks like we're on all roughly the same page...basically about a .500 team, maybe a little better or worse depending on how things break. I'd love to do it, but I can't realistically make much of an argument for better than this...but in March everyone has a chance...

0

THE NHL MUST LOVE THE DEVILS - from who else? A RANGER fan![Mark Messier]: A big, bald attention whore with a stupid Easter Island-lookin face. - from who else? DaneykoIsGod!

Even when Marty comes back maybe Larry should put Clemmensen to be on the goal during the shootouts.Can the coach do that ? Switch the goalies 5 seconds to go in overtime? - Most priceless quote ever posted on a message board.

Martin Brodeur: THE MOST ALL-TIME WINS!, 12 straight seasons of 30+ wins, 3 Stanley Cups, 4 Vezina Trophies, and zero respect from too many so-called Devils "fans" who are either too young or too bandwagon to remember the much darker days of Sean Burke, Craig Billington, Bob Sauve, Alain Chevrier, and the talented but overwhelmed Chico Resch, among many others.

It's easy to support a great player when he's playing at his very best. It takes a true fan to support that same player during those rare moments and stretches when he's not. Babe Ruth went 0-4 some games, and sometimes Wayne Gretzky was held pointless. There may be such a thing as greatness, but no such thing as absolute perfection every single night.

#30 FOREVER!

20 out of 1,946 njdevs.com members agree: CR1976 is the Most Knowledgable Poster of 2008! Victory is mine...oh yes, victory is mine!

(1) Pat Misch placed on waivers (hes out of options) - no surprise here. Don't really care if he clears or not.

(2) Mets claimed Manny Acosta on waivers from the Braves and assigned to him to AAA - live arm, does a decent job of getting groundballs, posted modest strikeout rates in 2007 and 2009, but his control just stinks. I'm fine with him as depth in AAA.

edit: And some more per Rubin (who now covers the Mets for ESPN New York).. Santos and F-Mart to AAA, and the Mets are reshuffling the rotation so that Pelfrey won't be starting the 2nd game of the season.

Edited by nmigliore, 30 March 2010 - 06:08 PM.

0

LETS GO METSLETS GO DEVILS

"Take all that clubhouse [expletive] and all that, throw it out the window. Every writer in the country has been writing about that [expletive] for years. Chemistry don't mean [expletive]."

Murphy is out 2-6 weeks with a grade 1 sprain of his right MCL. Davis will still go to AAA, with Jacobs being the likely starting 1B. Ugh... I'm not high on Murphy in general, but Jacobs is pretty awful; I'm not really thrilled to have him and his ~.300 OBP in the lineup, and hes terrible against lefties.

Its worth mentioning Ryan Garko was waived by the Mariners the other day. I would strongly consider picking him up and platooning with him Jacobs. In order to fit Garko you might have to cut ties with Tatis and his versatility, but I think it'd be worth it, especially when you consider Catalanotto would make up for some the lost versatility. Or you can just cut Matthews Jr., I guess. But anyway, Garko is a nice insurance policy to have on the bench, and he crushes LHP.

Edited by nmigliore, 31 March 2010 - 03:51 PM.

0

LETS GO METSLETS GO DEVILS

"Take all that clubhouse [expletive] and all that, throw it out the window. Every writer in the country has been writing about that [expletive] for years. Chemistry don't mean [expletive]."

I didn't want to believe it. Cautiously, nervously, I started researching the advanced stats, begrudgingly coming to one conclusion: The baseball friends were right. Baseball is an individual sport disguised as a team sport. The players are Strat-O-Matic cards with arms and legs. Like Strat-O-Matic, there's more than a little luck involved, but other than that, you are who you are. The numbers don't lie.

The sidebar to this column is true as well, that it's a shame Dick Allen never gets mentioned when great sluggers come up. The numbers say he was a monster, people who covered him back then say he was a monster, but for some reason he's slipped through the cracks.

0

Your unconditional rejection of violence makes you smugly think of yourselves as noble, as enlightened, but in reality it is nothing less than abject moral capitulation to evil. Unconditional rejection of self-defense, because you think its a supposed surrender to violence, leaves you no resort but begging for mercy or offering appeasement.

-Terry Goodkind

Sex Panther cologne -- 50 percent of the time, it works every time.

-Anchorman

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

I don't watch ESPN all that much, but one of their recent Baseball Tonight shows the other week had a segment on sabermetrics stats, and they even had an interview with a writer from Fangraphs to explain some of the stats... I couldn't believe my eyes.

Its kind of funny... when I used to watch Baseball Tonight and not be into saber-stats a couple of years ago I took what they said for granted, but now whenever I watch, I see them often breaking down and judging hitters on the triple crown stats (AVG/HR/RBI), using the eye-test for defense, and judging pitchers by win-loss records, which really makes them sound very silly.

0

LETS GO METSLETS GO DEVILS

"Take all that clubhouse [expletive] and all that, throw it out the window. Every writer in the country has been writing about that [expletive] for years. Chemistry don't mean [expletive]."

1) As you know, I don't like Mejia in the bullpen. Even putting the 'he should be starting in AA' arguement aside, theres nothing to suggest hes even ready for a major league bullpen gig. But hey, we'll see what happens. I just hope we don't mess the kid up, and I REALLY hope they view him as a starter in the future, despite the success he may or may not have in the 'pen this year. Anyway, I'll at least admit this: I think he'll be pretty fun to watch this year, the kid has electric stuff.

2) Calero cut? Really? I'm hoping this is more of a 'hes not ready' type of thing. Either way, I'm sure even Omar Minaya is smart enough to realize Calero is a pretty valuable reliever when healthy; he'll get his shot eventually.

3) Tough break for Carter. I really would have liked to see him make the bench. Fortunately he has options, so we don't lose him - he'll go to AAA, and if Catalanotto stinks it up enough to be cut, Carter should be the guy they call on. Depth never hurts.

4) Very tough break for Figueroa. I really thought Figgy was making the team, and after watching his interview during the game the other day, I really would have liked to see it happen, you can tell he was really excited at the prospect of being on an Opening Day roster for the 1st time in his career. Sorry Figs, I hope you tear it up Japan.

5) I'm really not so opposed to Parnell going to AAA. Personally, I think he really could use a 3rd pitch; his slider isn't that bad, but his control could use refinement. We'll see what happens with Bobby, but again, depth never hurts.

7) I was skeptical of cutting Nieve due to him being out of options and thus the risk of losing him on waivers, but I think I would have done it anyway. Throwing strikes can some times be an issue and he doesn't get many swings and misses (4.4 swinging strike% last year, career 6.6 swinging strike%, league average is typically around 8.5%); not exactly a good combo.

8) For some reason I get the feeling Sean Green going to be either really good or really bad. As long as hes primarily facing righties and throwing strikes at a decent rate, he should be alright.

9) It'll be interesting to see what comes of Takahashi. If Igarashi, Mejia, or Nieve don't pan out as quality setup-men, could he be that guy? I think he'll settle in as a Darren Oliver-type who comes in and eats a couple of innings. I think he'll be pretty useful considering Maine and Perez don't exactly last deep into games. He also might have a shot at sticking in the rotation if Maine's shoulder bums out or if Perez is terrible. What I don't think he'll be: a lefty-on-lefty specialist.

10) Feliciano is terrific in his current role - being a LOOGY. Lets keep it that way, Jerry.

11) A Jacobs/Tatis platoon will make you groin at the initial thought, but I don't think it will be all that terrible...

Jacobs has a career .350 wOBA against righties, which translates to approximately average production from a 1B. Defensively? Well, let's just hope his glove is at least a little better than what defensive metrics think it is; but even so, with him manning the position for only 2-6 weeks, it shouldn't kill us.

As for the other side of the platoon, Fernando Tatis -- hes put up wOBA's higher than .350 each of the past 2 seasons vs LHP (.353 in 2008, .354 in 2009); obviously that grades out as above average for a 1B. He doesn't have enough of a sample size to make a conclusion about his glove at 1B, but both UZR and Total Zone say hes above average in the 350+ career innings hes played there.

Whew.. so with all of that said... LETS GO METS.

0

LETS GO METSLETS GO DEVILS

"Take all that clubhouse [expletive] and all that, throw it out the window. Every writer in the country has been writing about that [expletive] for years. Chemistry don't mean [expletive]."

Just when I was trying to be a little optimistic about a Jacobs/Tatis platoon, this news comes out of Oakland: Jack Cust has been designated for assignment.

From an offensive standpoint, Jack Cust would really be an excellent addition to the Mets' lineup. Hes actually coming off of a down year, a year in which he still hit 25 bombs and posted a .342 wOBA; did I mention Jacobs' wOBA was .305 last year? The projection systems seem pretty confident Cust will be better next year:

Bill James: .375 wOBA

CHONE: .360 wOBA

Marcel: .360 wOBA

ZiPS: .359 wOBA

And regardless of whether he posts a wOBA that high or remains in the ~.340 range again, that's still better than what Mike Jacobs is likely to put up, and he actually knows how to -- get this -- draw a walk!

Worried about how Citi Field? Don't. Cust has been hitting in a cavernous park in Oakland for 3 years now and has a career .926 OPS and .250 ISO in that stadium; I think he would do just fine at Citi.

But isn't he an outfielder? Yes he is, and hes an awful one at that. But we wouldn't be picking him to play the outfield, we would be picking him up to play 1B. Is his glove likely to be any good at that position? Probably not, he doesn't even any big-league experience at that position; but then again, lets not forget whose manning that position on Monday afternoon - Mike Jacobs. And I don't think I need to go over how awful his glove is.

All in all, I firmly believe Jack Cust would be a great pickup for the Mets, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who rather see him and his ~.370 OBP hitting between Wright and Bay instead of Jacobs and his ~.313 OBP.

Edited by nmigliore, 03 April 2010 - 08:37 PM.

0

LETS GO METSLETS GO DEVILS

"Take all that clubhouse [expletive] and all that, throw it out the window. Every writer in the country has been writing about that [expletive] for years. Chemistry don't mean [expletive]."

^7^ is just defending his sport sheeps.. as Alcibiades the exiled Athenian rationalizes in his speech to the enemy Spartans, he wants to take revenge on Athens because he loves it and can't stand to see the state it's in now - Triumph

That lineup is pretty awful. Why is Cora even leading off? And Matthews Jr. starting over Pagan is just, ick... Hopefully this is just some "its Opening Day, so I'll play the vets" type of thing, otherwise, Tejada should be the everyday SS until Reyes returns, and Pagan should be the everyday CF'er until Beltran returns. I hate Jacobs hitting between Wright and Bay too.

Well, whatever, it still should be a fun game to attend. LETS GO METS.

0

LETS GO METSLETS GO DEVILS

"Take all that clubhouse [expletive] and all that, throw it out the window. Every writer in the country has been writing about that [expletive] for years. Chemistry don't mean [expletive]."

That lineup is pretty awful. Why is Cora even leading off? And Matthews Jr. starting over Pagan is just, ick... Hopefully this is just some "its Opening Day, so I'll play the vets" type of thing, otherwise, Tejada should be the everyday SS until Reyes returns, and Pagan should be the everyday CF'er until Beltran returns. I hate Jacobs hitting between Wright and Bay too.

Well, whatever, it still should be a fun game to attend. LETS GO METS.

Yea that's terrible, Pagan needs to be in there. And flip Castillo and Cora...Cora is a good bunter, Castillo not as quick as he used to be but can still swipe a bag. Castillo should be the table setter and Cora the guy bunting him to 2nd or 3rd to set up the inning.

0

^7^ is just defending his sport sheeps.. as Alcibiades the exiled Athenian rationalizes in his speech to the enemy Spartans, he wants to take revenge on Athens because he loves it and can't stand to see the state it's in now - Triumph